Nicky Jam's Fenix Tour makes its way to the El Paso County Coliseum on Thursday.

Performing, along with Jam, De La Ghetto, Zion y Lennox and Valentino, is a new artist that audiences may not be familiar with. He is the Canadian singer Alx Veliz.

Veliz is an up-and-comer from one of urban music's current hotbeds -- Toronto, home to such artists as The Weeknd, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Tory Lanez and, of course, Drake.

Still, Canada isn't exactly known for exporting Latin hit-makers.

Veliz was born in Canada to Guatemalan parents and his first major single, "Dancing Kizomba," combines a Latin/urban dance beat with the Angolan dance craze known as kizomba. The dance combines ballroom dance with African rhythms.

Get to the concert early if you'd like to get your Kizomba on.

Here's five questions that Veliz took the time to answer over the phone with me on Thursday before the concert:

The Beat: What exactly is Kizomba and what inspired you to make the song?

Veliz: Well, Kizomba is a genre of music that came out of Angola, Africa. It's a very romantic and sensual type of music. What drew me to make that type of song was the beauty behind it. When I first heard it, I basically thought it was like reggaeton romantico, it was like an urban-pop sound -- moombahton, if possible. I just said, if we add a Latin twist to this and a pop melody, it could be an international song. Five hours later, my producer and I came up with that song. That's how we got "Dancing Kizomba."

The Beat: You're from Toronto, which is interesting to us people from the Southwest. We don't think of there being too many Latinos in Canada. But, there's a lot of interest in music coming out of Toronto right now, for obvious reasons. What does a Latin artist from Toronto give to listeners that's a little bit different?

Veliz: I think what Latin artists and artists from Canada, overall, give to the world and to the music industry is just a different fusion of music, due to the fact that we're such a multi-cultural country. We're such a multi-cultural city, Toronto especially. When we create music all those influences and things we grew up hearing as kids from our friends that were from different cultures, you can hear it in our music. That's why for example, "Dancing Kizomba," you're going to hear an Indian sitar, mixed with the synthesizer. You're going to hear some African drums in the music, because growing up, I grew up with African friends, with Indian friends. I grew up with Latinos, I grew up with chinitos. All of that stuff, I think you can find in my music and I think that's what we have to offer to the world. That's why I think that Toronto and Canada, overall, is blowing up around the world, because we're representing what the world is right now -- a different fusion of cultures.

The Beat: So, you've got you're debut single, which came out in April, and now you're on this big tour with Nicky Jam -- what's that like?

Veliz: Oh man, so far it's been an awesome experience. It's a dream-come-true. For example, Zion y Lennox, I grew up listening to them and the same thing with Nicky Jam. So, for me, to be able to share a stage with those great artists is a dream-come-true and to be able to sprinkle a little bit of my salt on that, and give my flavor to that tour is something incredible. To be honest, I didn't dream of it happening this fast, so to be here right now, is something that I'm taking in day-by-day and I'm just happy to be a part of this process and a part of this tour.

The Beat: Have you gotten any career advice from Nicky or anyone else on the tour?

Veliz: (Laughs) Not yet, but we are working on some stuff. We've got a few surprises coming up, so who knows what happens after.

The Beat: Your debut EP came out in April. When will we see a full album by you and will we see any cool Toronto collaborations, like The Weeknd or Drake?

Veliz: (Laughs) Well, that's another dream. Shooting for the stars, we'll see what happens. But, most likely you'll find a couple of collaborations on the album. It should be released before the end of this year, that's the goal. You can expect a different fusion of different cultures but always with that Latin vibe and always with that pop melody. But, yes, we have a couple of collaborations up our sleeve, so wait for it. All I know is that the public won't be disappointed.

Dave Acosta may be reached at 546-6138; dacosta@elpasotimes.com; @AcostaDavidA on Twitter.